How to Make Chinese Dumplings (Jiaozi)

The ultimate to Chinese dumplings including dumpling dough, how to roll wrapper from flours, how to prepare Chinese dumpling fillings, how to cook dumplings and the popular dipping sauces. As one of the most symbolizing food on Chinese table, Chinese dumplings are the most popular food for Chinese New Year all over the country. Chinese dumplings can be further divided into three types based on the cooking method.

Boiled dumplings (水饺): for Chinese, dumplings are boiled dumplings in most cases, not pot-stickers and steamed dumplings. We have special name for those two types. Boiled dumplings are soft, juicy and moist. In northern provinces, are considered as the staple food all year around.Pan-fried dumplings (potstickers, 锅贴) are crispy and chewier than boiled dumplings. Pan-fried dumplings are popular across the country mainly as street foods or side dishes.Steamed dumplings (蒸饺): steamed dumplings are less famous compared with the two types above. In China, they are mainly served as side dish, dim sum or breakfast.

Making dumplings (either boiled dumplings or pan-fried version) with family members is one of the most important family activities for celebrating Chinese New Year in Northern provinces. All family members contribute to a healthy, well-balanced and rich in flavor dumpling dish. The older generation with more experience in making dumplings makes the most of the preparation works including making well flavored dumpling fillings and a dumpling wrapper dough with an appropriate hardness. When the dumpling party begins, someone starts to roll the wrapper and all of the others help to wrap them. Team work is always funny and rewarding. Everyone is get involved and everyone express their blessings to other family members. Everyone is enjoying the precious family reunion time and looking forward to the next “get together” dumpling party.

Make Juicy &Flavory Fillings

It is really a long store if we want to explain possibility of fillings for dumplings. But there are rules. Dumpling fillings are well-balanced nutritionally with ground meat (might be pork, beef, shrimp, mutton and sometimes chicken) and chopped vegetables (carrot, celery, cabbage, mushrooms and radish), so dumpling itself is a perfect one dish meal. Here are some tips to make your dumpling filling with running juice and rice flavors.

Fat content should be guaranteed|If possible, choose ground meat with at least 30% fat content. Most of Chinese dumplings use ground pork or sometimes ground lamb. Both of the two types of meat can provide enough oil after cooking, and avoid the filling becomes tight and dry. If other leaner meats are used as the main ingredients for filling, including chicken, beef and shrimp, a common technique is to add some extra fat. This is well proofed in famous Har Gow, extra pork fat is added to make the shrimp filling juicy.

Marinate the ground meat a few hours prior to folding|Longer marinating time help the meat to absorb the seasonings. Firstly add all the seasonings, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, salt, ginger, cooking wine, sesame oil, egg and chopped scallion. Then heat for around 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and drizzle the hot oil on the top of the scallion. Stir the meat mixture for 2-3 minutes in one direction until getting a paste texture. Then set aside and marinate for 1 hour or cover with plastic wrapper and fridge overnight.

Apply appropriate treatments to fresh vegetable| the treatments of the vegetable including, stir-frying, blanch, salt marinating and oil mixing. If you use vegetables have ahigher water content for example cabbage, chop them firstly and then marinate with salt for 10-15 minutes. After marinating, slightly squeeze the extra liquid out. This can prevent the filling becomes watery and spoil the dumplings wrappers. For vegetables with lower water content (like chive in this recipe), chop firstly and then coat with oil before mixing with ground meat. This prevents the vegetables from dewatering due to the salt.

Mix vegetables with ground meat just before wrapping. If the vegetables are added too early, the dewatering process happens, making the filling watery and hard to handle.

After cooked, the chive is still green.

How to make dumpling wrapper from scratch

We have full access to store-made dumpling wrappers now but a “real dumpling” better starts from flours.

Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.

When the dough becomes soft and smooth, cut into halves and knead each half into a round ball. Take one half and dig a small hole in center. Then shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log. Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together. Press one down and then roll it into a wrapper around 10cm in diameter. You can refer to the video for the technique.

Get your assistants here and begin to wrap the dumpling at the fastest speed, because the wrappers will get dried out soon and become harder to seal together.

Tips for easy to roll dumping wrappers

Tougher dough is better for softer dough. It is quite important to use harder dough if you want to make thin papers. If the dough is too soft, it is hard to roll the wrappers and the dumpling cannot keep a nice shape. If you feel your dough is slightly too hard to work with, you can slightly lengthen a resting time.

If you plan to make steamed dumplings, use hot boiling water to make the dough so your dumplings will be much softer and easy to steam. We call this dough as hot water dough (烫面).

How to cook dumplings

Boiled dumplings (水饺) : heat a large pot of water to a boiling, add a small pinch of salt. Then cook the dumplings in batches. Slightly move the dumplings with a large ladle or scoop so they will not sticky to the bottom. Then the water begins to boil again, add around 1/4 cup of cold water. Repeat once. When the dumplings become transparent and expand because of the air inside. Transfer out.

Pan-frying (potstickers): brush 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan (nonstick pan recommended for beginners), place the dumplings in. Pleats side up. Heat over medium fire until one side becomes browned. Swirl around 1/2 cup of water and then cover the lid immediately.

Continue heating until all of the water is evaporated.Slow down your heat and heat until the bottom becomes crispy and golden brown.

Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.

When the dough becomes soft and smooth, cut into halves and knead each half into a round ball. Take one half and dig a small hole in center. Then shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log. Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together. Press one down and then roll it into a wrapper around 10cm in diameter. You can refer to the video for the technique.

Get your assistants here and begin to wrap the dumpling at the fastest speed, because the wrappers will get dried out soon and become harder to seal together.

Filling

In a mixing bowl, add ground pork, a small pinch of salt, egg, light soy sauce, white pepper, oyster sauce grated ginger and salt. Then place the green onion on top and drizzle hot oil on green onions. This helps to improve the aroma of the green onion.

Stir the filling in one direction for 2-3 minutes until getting a paste texture and the filling becomes quite sticky. Set aside for 1 hour or cover with plastic wrapper and overnight.

Finely chop chives and mix with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil or other vegetable oil. Mix chive with pork before wrapping.

Pan-fried version

Brush 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan (nonstick pan recommended for beginners), place the dumplings in. Pleats side up.

Heat over medium fire until one side becomes browned. Swirl around 1/2 cup of water and then cover the lid immediately. Continue heating until all of the water is evaporated.

Slow down your heat and heat until the bottom becomes crispy and golden brown.

Boiled dumplings (水饺)

Heat a large pot of water to a boiling, add a small pinch of salt. Then cook the dumplings in batches. Slightly move the dumplings with a large ladle or scoop so they will not sticky to the bottom. Then the water begins to boil again, add around 1/4 cup of cold water. Repeat once. When the dumplings become transparent and expand because of the air inside. Transfer out.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Recipe firstly published in 2015 and updated in 2018 with new videos and new cook's note.

Hi Alexandra,
If the recipe lists starch as an ingredient, you can definitely corn starch. We have lots of starch in Chinese cooking. If a dish requires a specific starch, I used to point that out in recipe.

In the title of this post and the youtube video you say “making dumplings from STARCH” instead of “making dumplings from SCRATCH.” You keep using the word “starch” instead of the word “scratch” even though I think you mean “scratch”.

Anyway, thanks for the recipe! I plan to use it this weekend for Chinese New Years!

You keep saying ‘add water to meat’ and do this up to three times.
How much water do you add?
I’ve made several lots of dumplings in the past, but always suffered from the filling seeming to be too dry. Wonder if the addition of water is the solution Ive been looking for?

Hi Jpar,
That’s the exact reason why the filling is too dry. The amount of water added each time depends on the amount of the meat filling. For 250g meat filling, I recommend adding around 1 tablespoon of water all together. Each time, stir in one direction until the water is well absorbed. But sometimes, the water contained in the different types of meat might differ. So it is hard to provide a detailed amount. The basic concept is to add water until the meat cannot absorb anymore water.

I’m so glad I found your website – I grew up eating many of these dishes and I can’t wait to try out some new recipes. Very authentic and complete with rules I will never understand (my mom also told me to only stir in one direction)! Keep up the good work 😉

Thanks for the lovely commenting. Personally I learned a lot from my mother too and sometimes she explains some of the reasons. But I get most of the experience from daily cooking. So practice makes perfect.

Hi Sunita,
To make the chicken filling for dumplings moist, there are several ways. Add egg white or add more oil with starch. Adding egg white would be an easier way. But you will need to stir the filling in one direction to mix them well and let the meat absorb some of the liquid. It is almost the same with pork filling.

thank you for sharing your fantastic recipes, as you have made sichuan ciusine at least visually more manageable for the home cook.

i made the scallion pancake this evening and it turned out pretty good. i think with further experimentation it will turn out better as i would like to make it so its less dense.

i also attempted making the dumpling wrappers but unfortunately to no avail. i tried with bith all purpose flour and plain white flour, but the dough was too wet to work with even after letting it rest. any other tips?

Hi Don,
Use high-gluten flour for dumpling wrappers next time. All purpose flour and plain white flour absorb less water thus making the dough too wet. And reduce the water slightly based on the brand of your flour; stop adding water when the flour is turned into flocculent texture.

I’m just starting to browse your recipes and can’t decide on what to make first. But as my boys love dumplings I thought I’d start here. I just wanted to know if you have any egg free filling suggestions/alternatives. My girlfriend is alergic to eggs, but I’m sure she’d like to have some dumplings as well.
Thank you!

Hi Vlad,
Egg is strongly recommend but not must for dumpling fill. It is used to moist the filling(avoid drying out after cooking) and tenderize the meat. You can add some water in the meat (recommend 1 tablespoon of water for 1 cup minced meat) firstly and the mix with starch. The later way can keep the filling juicy and moist too.

I ate this kind of food at a Chinese restaurant in Cambodia. The fillings were different from the one that you are showing us here. If I’m not wrong the fillings consists of shrimps as the main element, other things I’m not sure of. Besides the fillings, other things look the same (I refer to the appearance). If you know the recipe of the food that I just described, kindly share it here and post into Facebook as I have just followed your page. Thanks.

The dumplings were a major hit in my home. Instead of making the dough, I used egg roll wrappers. I just cut them to size. Next time I plan on attempting the dough as well. The wrapping part was time consuming and, in the beginning, frustrating- just keep at it and your patence will be rewarded. Very Tasty. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.

For flour, I used half King Arthur All Purpose Flour (gluten 11.7%) and half King Arthur Bread Flour (gluten 12.7%). That made my gluten percent an average of 12.2%. This was a good mix! Before seeing this, I usually make with only all purpose flour, and I think these were easier to work with. I am looking forward to experimenting with different flour mixes to see exactly what I like best.

I do have a question for Elaine. Have you every put your dough in the refrigerator for a few days? A lot of times I don’t use all my dough the first day and want to save it.

Dough can not be kept in refrigerator directly. You can make the dough into wrappers and then freeze them in air-tight bag. Next time before assembling, set in room temperature and wait until soft again.

Hi Elaine
I read in other recipes of dumplings that when boiling is added cold water, is this wrong? Why is this done?
Also I’ve always wondered what the difference between dumplings and pot stickers is?
Thank you for your recipe, I’ll be trying to do it very soon.

Ruth,
Yes, we need to add cold water when cooking the dumplings. Firstly cold water and help to make the skin more chewier. Secondly it help to create a uniform heat so both the filling and wrapper can be well cooked.

These dumplings look AMAZING! I really like your fantastic tips. Next time I try to make dumplings, I will certainly follow your recipe. Your photos are extraordinary! Are you a professional photographer?

Thank you for your beautiful website, it has inspired me to try so many new dishes! When making the dumpling filling, can you tell me how to keep the filling from becoming mushy? How do you keep the filling “springy”? Thank you again!

What would you suggest as a alternative or replacement for chives? I assume you’re referring to Chinese Chives or 韭菜, (pronounced in Mandarin as jiǔ cài and in Cantonese as “gow choy*)? There are regular mild chives, round garlic chives and Chinese Chives. A neighbor gave me a pot of chives (I believe they are either garlic scapes or 大蒜花 dà suàn huā or gow choy) when she moved out, they came up again last year but I didn’t use them because they were very strong. She also gave me a jar of the blossoms packed in salt, I definitely didn’t know what to do with them. She seemed to treasure them, she was the sweetest woman, didn’t speak English at all and my attempts to Google Translate failed miserably! These Chinese names are from Woks of Life website, my encyclopedia of all things Chinese —https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-chives-scallions-aromatics-peppers/ — they say the gow choy is more of a vegetable than an herb. I sound very confused, don’t I?!! I’ll have to cook some pork and gow choy together before I spend hours making dumplings, right?!

I made dumplings last year and they are definitely much better homemade than frozen but I’m still looking for a good filling. I used Napa cabbage and they fell apart, not good at all. Whole big batch, not good at all, such a disappointment. Would you suggest other vegetables?

Also, in an answer to a question from a reader you talked about using part all-purpose flour and part bread flour but you don’t mention that in the ingredient lists. Any reason for this?

OK, all this being said, I need to watch your video tomorrow and maybe that will lend a few answers, I found your site through rasamalaysia and came upon this posting looking for your recipe for HarGow. I want to make Char Siu Bao and have been researching flours and will check tomorrow for any recipes for those you may have posted. Have you ever heard of a dipping sauce recipe for Char Siu Bao? I’ve always just mixed hot mustard and soy sauce together, but recently read about someone enjoying her baos with her dipping recipe.

Please remember me, I’m obsessed with dim sum recipes and I’m sure I’ll be back to ask you many questions in the future. I’m retired, have time to cook, and the winter months in Ohio have been such that I don’t go out unless I have to. i lived in Hawaii 40 years ago and sorely wish I had stayed on the island.

Oh well, hindsight is always better. If you post this could you edit out the personal stuff? Thanks for your blog, and take care.

Jodi,
First of all, thanks so much for your trust and leaving me such an informative comment.
For your questions
Firstly, we use chive as a vegetable more than a herb. Chive blossoms are quite treasure in China too. It is extremely good when matching with Beijing style lamb hot pot or using as a dipping sauce.
For me, chive is the best partner for pork dumplings. But corn, celery, carrot and cabbage are good options too. If you use cabbage, marinate shredded cabbage with a small pinch of salt and then squeeze the extra water. This step can avoid the filling falling apart.
We do not match char siu bao with a dipping sauce in China. But I believe a soy sauce based dipping sauce used in Chinese steamed chicken can be an ideal option.

Thank you so much for this recipe! I made potstickers with this recipe. I’m a beginner, so it was a challenge, but your instructions were very helpful! Delicious – cannot wait to make them again and perfect my technique!

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